Proably the story lies somwhere between truth and fiction.Somwhat like the Big cats.[How long does it take the Dept of Ag to analyise a load of Sh11te and announce it's findings???]
There seem to be people who see them and have proof,but it never seems to be forthcoming when asked for wether from private parties or Govt depts.
The last offical wild boar from a farm project were up somwhere in the border counties[Louth I think].Wether they were released by antis,the farmer or escaped is not known.However they were apprently killed off,after the "cute factor" wore off.So if they are back in Wicklow thats news.
They could also be feral pigs that escaped somwhere,and have gone wild again,ala the Aussie Razorbacks.2nd Gen pigs would go hairy pretty quick again.

Any chance of some footage John ? I suppose even if the release was not sanctioned or illegal if you wish the animals were once native to Ireland. The same has been done with extinct birds of prey although under official supervision.

They're a fantastic animal to observe, hunt and eat. They can be fairly destructive for agriculture though.

I will show it to anybody that wants to see it, i offered to show it to anybody that wanted to see it at the Game Fair in Birr this year. Some saw it. I have shown it to many at this stage, sorry Grizzly I'm not sure if i got to show it to you at the Game fair. There was wild boar living wild in July 2007 in Wicklow. I don't know if the are still alive, they had several young with them when they were recorded. They were very tame at the time, i have no records of them since.
I'm not able to download the video on my phone. There was also reports of wild boar in Leitrim. I have also heard that they are being offered for sale for release.

Yes they are native to Ireland and they were driven to extinction. But the recent attempts at re-introducing them are totally illegal. There are very strict guidelines for re-introducing any species.

What woukld be the legal stance on hunting?
Would the DoEH encouage it as it was unsupervised and may cause damage (a la muntjac).
Or is there more of an lets see whats happens for now approach.

Not protected by the Wildlife Act, so if you've got enough gun for it and fancy wild rashers (), then roll on. If you get one, give us all a shout too, wouldn't mind some wild bacon myself, love to try shoot them.

Not protected by the Wildlife Act, so if you've got enough gun for it and fancy wild rashers (), then roll on. If you get one, give us all a shout too, wouldn't mind some wild bacon myself, love to try shoot them.